{"id":110142,"date":"2013-10-13T00:01:17","date_gmt":"2013-10-12T18:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=110142"},"modified":"2013-10-18T15:27:23","modified_gmt":"2013-10-18T09:57:23","slug":"wikileaks-unp-leader-under-fire-from-within-his-party-2004-us-ambassador","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-unp-leader-under-fire-from-within-his-party-2004-us-ambassador\/","title":{"rendered":"WikiLeaks: UNP Leader Under Fire From Within His Party &#8211; 2004 US Ambassador"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;UNP leader and former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is under fire from members of his own party who are seeking to clip his wings and\/or remove him as party leader. The discontent stems from the view of many party members that Wickremesinghe led the party poorly in the April election in which the UNP was defeated&#8221;\u00a0<strong>the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-unp-leader-under-fire-from-within-his-party-2004-us-ambassador\/ranil-5\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-110143\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-110143\" title=\"Ranil\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Ranil1-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Ranil1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Ranil1-50x50.jpg 50w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>The\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\">Colombo Telegraph<\/a><\/span>\u00a0found the related leaked cable from the\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/category\/wikileaks\/\">WikiLeaks<\/a><\/span>\u00a0database. The cable is classified as \u201cCONFIDENTIAL\u201d and discuses the UNP\u2019s internal crisis after the 2005\u00a0April parliamentary election.\u00a0The cable is signed by the US Ambassador to Colombo\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Jeffrey+J.+Lunstead&amp;x=10&amp;y=5\">Jeffrey J. Lunstead<\/a><\/span>\u00a0on May 12, 2004.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The\u00a0ambassador\u00a0wrote; &#8220;Despite the heat, Wickremesinghe seems set to hang on as party leader, as there are no clear challengers to his rule at this time. In the mid- to longer term, if the party is to improve its standing, it will have to open up to a new generation of leaders.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong>Read the relevant part of the cable below;<\/p>\n<pre>C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000770 \r\n\r\nSIPDIS \r\n\r\nDEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA\/INS, INR\/NESA \r\n\r\nNSC FOR E. MILLARD \r\n\r\nE.O. 12958:      DECL: 05-12-14\r\nTAGS: PGOV PINR PREL CE\r\nSUBJECT:  After recent election defeat, UNP leader\r\nWickremesinghe under fire from within his party \r\n\r\nRefs:  Colombo 760, and previous \r\n\r\n(U) Classified by Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead.\r\nReasons 1.5 (b,d). \r\n\r\n\u00b61.  (C) SUMMARY:  UNP leader and former prime minister\r\nRanil Wickremesinghe is under fire from members of his\r\nown party who are seeking to clip his wings and\/or\r\nremove him as party leader.  The discontent stems from\r\nthe view of many party members that Wickremesinghe led\r\nthe party poorly in the April election in which the UNP\r\nwas defeated.  Despite the heat, Wickremesinghe seems\r\nset to hang on as party leader, as there are no clear\r\nchallengers to his rule at this time.  In the mid- to\r\nlonger term, if the party is to improve its standing, it\r\nwill have to open up to a new generation of leaders.\r\nEND SUMMARY.<\/pre>\n<pre>LUNSTEAD<\/pre>\n<p>Related cable;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a title=\"Permalink to WikiLeaks: Ranil Is A Perennial Loser As Well As A Perennial Survivor \u2013 US\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-ranil-is-a-perennial-loser-as-well-as-a-perennial-survivor-us\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">WikiLeaks: Ranil Is A Perennial Loser As Well As A Perennial Survivor \u2013 US<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a title=\"WikiLeaks: US Skeptical About Ranil\u2019s Claim That He Has Tremendous Grassroots Support\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-us-skeptical-about-ranils-claim-that-he-has-tremendous-grassroots-support\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">WikiLeaks: US Skeptical About Ranil\u2019s Claim That He Has Tremendous Grassroots Support<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":110143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1,6969,2375,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-news","category-popular-stories","category-stories","category-wikileaks"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - 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